>> Sunday, September 23, 2012

MANKAYAN, Benguet – Security has been tightened in this mining town after
violence marred the serving of a writ of preliminary injunction against
protesters of a gold exploration project on Monday.

Six
Cordillera police officers including regional deputy intelligence head Supt.
Chief Glenn Lonogan and Supt. Darnell Dulnuan were injured in a scuffle with
residents from Barangay Tabio.

Local
folks reportedly blocked nine provincial sheriffs who were supposed to hand
down the court’s order to allow the Far Southeast Gold Project to fence off a
private property of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMC) meant for
drilling.

Three
others – PO2 Neil Cabanse, Police Officer 1 Jhona Likinio and PO1 James
Dang-ay, with the police officials were hit with stones and logs hurled by
protesters.

Early
Monday morning, court sheriffs were blocked by about 100 residents reinforced
by militant group members.

The
court officers, policemen and officials from the Commission on Human Rights –
Cordillera, led by Regional Director Harold Kub-aron tried but failed to forge
any agreement with the protesters and were pushed away and pelted with rocks.

Henry
Longay, chief sheriff, said they were there to enforce the court order by
Regional Trial Court Branch 64 Presiding Judge AgapitoLaoagan to allow LCMC to
fence the area in sitio Madaymen owned by the mining firm.

But
the protesters insisted they will not end their blockade “until justice is
done,” claiming they were unaware of the court move.

The
Far Southeast Gold Project, a joint venture between LCMC and the South
Africa-based Gold Fields Inc., started the drilling in the disputed area in
Madaymen late December 2011.

But
land claimants (two of the eight families laying claim to the land) with the
help of some residents stopped the operations.

The
protesters eventually built a shack in the area to secure the site and ignored
court orders for them to vacate.

The
protesters sought reprieve from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples
and the NCIP issued a 20-day Temporary Restraining Order last March 14 but
denied a petition for injunction on the protesters on April 14 and ordered the
protesters to allow FSGRI to conduct its drilling activities.

The
drilling is for exploratory purposes prior to FSGRI's plan to mine an ore body
more than a kilometer deep and some areas in Mankayan already agreed for
similar activities.

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Four provincial government employees, two of them
holding managerial positions, were charged for grave misconduct, abuse of
authority, dishonesty, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the
best interest of the service.

Provincial
legal officer Geraldine Baniqued said Wednesday the employees, whose identities
were withheld, were given 10 days to submit their verified answer to charges
filed against them.

Baniqued
said the provincial government under Gov. Amado Espino Jr. is resolved to
strengthen the bureaucracy by instilling professionalism and excellence through
disciplinary action against erring employees.

A
total of 16 cases were filed due to dishonesty, gross misconduct, neglect of
duty, acts unbecoming of a public official, insubordination and falsification
of documents in 2009.

Seven
cases were dismissed while the respondents in the remaining nine cases were
either suspended without pay or disqualified for promotion.

Eighteen
cases were filed in 2010, of which nine cases were meted with suspension from
work without pay and reprimand.

Seven
cases were filed last year, including those against provincial guards and an
assistant provincial warden.

BONTOC,
Mountain Province – Police are now interrogating four suspects in the brutal
death of a 22-year-old coed in this province’s capital town, which has sparked
concern among concerned residents who urged police to arrest the murderers
sooner or more killings could follow.

Town
police chief Dyanne Bangcawayan bared this but did not disclose names of the
suspects pending investigation.

A
15- year- old girl was also killed by another minor-suspect here in a coffee
shop last July 20.

Dawn
of Tuesday, 2nd year Computer Technician student of Xijen Technological
Institute Sarah GemalynMacholiBecyagen was found dead at a vacant lot near a
kiosk fronting the Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School.

Becyagen
sustained injuries at her right abdomen, swollen lips, hematoma and injuries on
knees and legs, medical reports said, adding the victim died due to asphyxia by
means of strangulation.

The victim
was estimated to have died between 11 to 12 p.m. of Sept. 11. Her cell
phone was missing.

Investigator
SPO3 Romualdo Ngina of the provincial police investigation unit here said
laboratory tests were sent to the crime laboratory to determine commission of
rape.

Police
said the victim with two girlfriends left a liquor store around 8 p.m. night of
Sept. 11. The victim started for home
alone by 11 p.m. to Barangay Samoki where she lived with her parents. She
traces her roots from Otukan, Bauko in the province.

Investigation
led by Bontoc chief of police Dyanne Bangcawayan and
supported by the province’s police investigation unit is
ongoing to find out identity of perpetrators.

Provincial
police director Senior Supt. William Viteno said robbery may be the motive of
the suspects in the killing since some of her personal belongings were missing.

Responding
personnel from the Bontoc Police, Provincial Headquarters, Crime Laboratory,
and the Bontoc Emergency Response Team led by Dr. Diga Kay Gomez “processed”
the area where the victim was found.

They
brought the body to Bontoc General Hospital where the remains were later
identified as that if Becyagen's by her father Agustin Becyagen.

Investigators
who talked with the victim’s cousin - Karen MachuliTicgangay - who was with the
victim before the incident reportedly bared that victim was then wearing a
black sling bag containing her Samsung cellular phone when they parted ways in
front of the Land Bank branch about a hundred meters away from where the
victim's body was found.

Businessman
Jimmy Bangkili Saguid who parked his vehicle on the side of the road near where
the body was found said that midnight of Monday, he noticed two males, both
slim and wearing jogging pants with one among them wearing a black t-shirt and
a hood covering his head, while the other was wearing a black t-shirt roaming
around.

While
initially looking at robbery, police is also not discounting other angles for
the killing, added Viteno.

“We
are conducting a deep investigation and searching for more witnesses,” the
police official said.

Coming
from a huge and prominent family, the victim's relatives urged police to solve
the case.

BAGUIO
CITY – The controversy over how the Athletic Bowl would be developed and
whether it should remain in the hands of the government or a private developer
has heated up.

The
city council said it should remain free of charge and accessible to the public
if its rehabilitation plan materializes and the city council should have a hand
in deciding final terms of the contract for the development of the decrepit
sports facility.

These
were among the conditions considered by the city council while deliberating on
the proposed terms of reference (TOR) for the development of the Athletic Bowl
last Monday.

Despite
the controversy generated by a city councilor’s tirade on the proposal coupled
with bribery allegation, the body discussed the proposed TOR where some members
acknowledged the necessity of upgrading the facility to address the sporting
need of the populace albeit wanting to ensure that the deal will be done
without any irregularity.

Councilor
Joel Alangsab said he favors the development of the site but wanted to ensure
that athletes and joggers are accorded continued free access.

Councilor
Richard Carino who heads the committee studying the TOR accepted Alangsab’s
proposed amendment to include a provision ensuring that the facility will
remain open to the public.

Alangsab
also wanted to make sure that the city council will have a hand in the crafting
and approval of the final terms of the deal even after it gives its nod to the
proposed initial TOR now pending for adoption by the body.

Acting
vice mayor Nicasio Aliping Jr. and Carino assured that the body will be
accorded ample opportunity in drawing up the final terms based on the process
to be observed before the same will be perfected.

Councilor
Peter Fianza however observed that the proposed TOR is inconsistent with
earlier policies adopted by the city particularly Resolution No. 257 series of
2010 which he said did not direct privatization by the executive, Resolution
No. 443 series of 1994 adopting the mater development plan which, Fianza said,
did not mention of the plan or of the project being in accordance with the plan
and Executive Order No. 224 and Resolution No. 34 series of 2004 which he said
the proposed TOR runs counter to.

Carino
explained that the body’s approval of the TOR is merely the first in the series
of steps involved in the whole process of approving the project.

If
approved by the council, the TOR will be referred to the committee and the City
Development Council and a feasibility study will be conducted, the result of
which will again be referred to the city council which will subject the matter
to a public hearing.

The
approved TOR, feasibility study and the draft contract will then be referred to
the Regional Development Council and the investment coordinating committee and
the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) for approval.

Earlier,
Mayor Mauricio Domogan said the TOR for the proposed multi-billion project were
formulated under legally established procedures and that all the required steps
including the aspect of establishing social acceptability will be observed by
the city in tackling the development plan.

The
TORs provide the parameters for the proposed development project to cost P4.3
billion and these terms were prepared by a technical working committee which
the mayor formed to ensure that the proposed project will not contravene the
master development plan drawn by the University of the Cordilleras for Burnham
Park which the city adopted as blueprint for the development of city’s premiere
park.

The
mayor formed the technical committee after the city council approved a
resolution in November last year giving the go signal for the rehabilitation
project after the city received a proposal from a foreign company for the
Athletic Bowl project. The city also received two other proposals
from local proponents.

The
proposed development will cover the upgrading of Athletic Bowl, the tennis
court and swimming pool but these will remain as city government properties
along with the revenues generated from them.

The
developer will also transform the city of the former city auditorium into a
commercial complex and this will serve as the bread and butter of the
investor. The mayor said no trees will be affected in this site and
the lake, the children’s park, Melvin Jones, orchidarium will not be touched.

Part
of the proposal will be the installation of a monorail along the park as an
added tourist attraction.

The
proposed TOR created a stir after Councilor Edison Bilog through the social
media network Facebook and later in a privilege speech before the city council
drumbeat his opposition to the plan with allegations of bribery attempt.

After
receiving rebuke from his colleagues over what they felt was a premature and
unsubstantiated claim, Bilog later identified city tourism supervising officer
Benedicto Alhambra as the culprit entailing a trade of suits from both parties.

BAGUIO
CITY– Factions of the paramilitary group Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army
(CPLA) are now engaged in a “word war” with a faction, claiming to be “the
genuine and original members” while tagging another faction as renegades, fakes
and opportunists.

“Newly
re-installed” CPLA chairman Mailed Molina, who was also Bucloc, Abra former
Mayor, said the renegades headed by Arsenio Humiding, who entered into a
“closure agreement” with Malacañang last year succeeded in “duping” President
Benigno Aquino III into recognizing them as CPLAs.

A
splinter group of the New Peoples Army, Molina and other former NPA leaders and
a company of rebels, broke ranks with the Communist Party of the Philippines in
1986 and forged a peace agreement with then President Corazon Aquino.

From
then on, the CPLA fought side by side with the military in hunting the NPA in
the Cordillera.

Further
splits hounded the CPLA until recently when at least three groups emerged, one
headed by Molina, one by Humiding and another by Kalinga-based Mike Sugguiyao.

What
is disheartening, Molina said, is that Humiding’s group which entered into a
“closure agreement” with government, is still using the CPLA organization to
“get funds from the national government”.

He
said his group is the genuine CPLA, “and continues to be a group aspiring for
autonomy and other democratic principles for the Cordillera people.”

During
the 27th-year anniversary of the peace agreement between the CPLA and the
government, Molina was declared CPLA chairman with Rafael Wasan as Cordillera
Bodong Administration head backed by the Cordillera Regional Assembly in Baguio
City.

But
in Tabuk City, Kalinga, Miguel “Mike” Sugguiyao was likewise declared as
chairman with Andres Ngao-i.

Humiding,
who earlier said Molina was expelled by the CPLA, and his faction are now
working with the OPPAP implementing the multimillion Payapa at
MasaganangPamayanan (PAMANA) program awarded to them.

Molina added that Humiding group was only
interested in the government funds, saying that President Aquino "should
have been circumspect whom he talked with in the first place."

CLARK
FREEPORT, Pampanga – Officials of the state-owned Clark Development Corp.
(CDC) were charged with graft and corruption for allegedly entering into a
$400-million joint venture project with a Korean investor that is
”patently disadvantageous to the government.”

The Parañaque City-based First Worldwide
Marketing Corp.(FWMC), a former partner of Donggwang Clark Corp. (Donggwang),
filed the complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman, saying the joint venture
agreement violates the CDC’s charter.

FWMC said the agreement was disadvantageous
to the government because the CDC had agreed that arbitration of possible
conflict be done by a Singapore-based third party, which reportedly requires an
arbitration fee of as much as $280 million, despite a mere $150,000 annual
lease the CDC could collect from Donggwang.

The 12-page complaint noted that the CDC
allowed the operation and sale of the condominium units at Donggwang Clark Ode
Country in the absence of the necessary permits and licenses.

CDC officials were accomplices in assisting
Donggwang in defrauding the public by allowing it to misrepresent that some of its stockholders are residents of the country, it added.

FWMC also cited environmental issues,
claiming that the CDC had known that the environmental clearance certificate
issued to Donggwang was for a previous plan and not the Korean firm’s current
project.

Pampanga’s first district Rep.
Carmelo Lazatin said he would file a resolution seeking an
investigation into the golf course project in a 304-hectare area inside the
freeport to determine whether it violates environmental laws.

“While a robust economy is a goal and dream
of every province through projects like this, its negative effects on the
environment should not be put in the backburner, especially when millions of
lives are at risk,” Lazatin said.

He said his inquiry “will center on why the
project was approved despite alleged violations of environmental laws and other
government policies.”

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City - A total of one thousand one hundred ninety six
passed the 2012 Philippine Military Academy Entrance Examination (PMAEE) conducted
in August in thirty-seven examination centers throughout the country.

Out
of the successful examinees, 792 are males and 404 are females or 66 percent
were males against 34 percent that were females.

PMA
spokesperson Captain Lynette Flores said 14,829 took the Cadet Qualifying Test
but only 14,540 completed the written examination.

This
year’s total number of examinees, Flores said, surpassed the usual number of
PMA examinees for the last 18 years by 240 percent.

The
conduct of the PMA Entrance Examination this year, Flores said, is considered
by the PMA as a success, considering that significant
number of regular applicants showed up during the actual day of the
examination, including the huge number of qualified walk-in applicants.

The
turnout, the PMA said, can be attributed to the recruitment efforts of the
Academy with the help of various AFP units.

These
efforts were complemented by the PMA alumni, the local government units and
agencies, Flores said.

The
successful examinees will be notified by the PMA Office of Cadet Admission and
will be given instructions as to the conduct of the Complete Physical
Examination, the second phase in the selection process.

According
to Flores, the cadet candidates have to pass the physical examination to be
appointed as member of PMA Class 2017.

BAGUIO
CITY -- Two contrasting taxation proposals are up in the city council amidst
the continuing strain on the city’s finances by the need to haul Baguio’s
garbage to Capas, Tarlac until it can develop its own engineered sanitary
landfill.

As
early as April this year, the Local Finance Committee led by city budget
officer Leticia Clemente urged the city council to upgrade the fair and current
market values of real properties that “have stagnated since 1996” despite
provision in the Local Government Code for the revision of the same every three
years.

Also
pending in the local legislature are a proposal of vice-mayor Daniel Farinas
for a tax amnesty on delinquent real property taxes and a similar one of
councilor Edison Bilog to include delinquent business taxes.

The
city council’s committee on ways and means and finance (Cluster B) headed by
Farinas has recommended approval of the two proposals on second reading.

Committee
members who signed the endorsement were councilors NicasioAliping, Richard
Carino, ErdolfoBalajadia and Karminn Cheryl Dinney Yangot.

The
LCF, however, said a tax amnesty, coming only four years after it was granted
in 2008, would be counterproductive as “taxpayers are encouraged to be delinquent
to the detriment of compliant and good taxpayers.This is utterly inequitable as
we are giving the impression that delinquency deserves an incentive, which
should be the other way around, where premium should be for good taxpayers”.

The
committee cited Sec. 276 of the Local Government Code that provides that
condonation or reduction of real property tax and interest may be done “ in
case of general failure of crops or substantial decrease in the price of
agricultural or agri=based products, or calamity in any province, city or
municipality”.

Records
of the city treasurer’s office show that in the 2008 tax amnesty, 309 o0f those
who availed or 29 percent stopped paying after the amnesty and are again tax
delinquents to the present.

The
present LCF, also composed of city accountant Antonio Tabin, city administrator
Carlos Canilao, acting planning officer Evelyn Cayat, acting city
treasurer Alice Onoza and acting city assessor Nilda Navarro, said there is no
legal basis for the grant of amnesty covering business taxes.

In
recommending the upgrade of the fair and current market values of real
properties, the LCF said: “With the growing concerns of the city needing
financial support, it is imperative that we take advantage of the power of
taxation granted under R.A. 7160 to ensure continuous delivery of basic
services to our residents in the most effective and efficient way.”

Then
city assessor Augusts Medina in September, 2010 submitted to the city council
the proposed revised schedule of values for land, buildings, machineries,
plants and trees. He cited a Department of Finance order for all city assessors
to undertake the mandatory general revision in accordance with provisions of
the Local Government Code.

“The
schedule of values for land reflects an increase of 298.60 (percent) over the
schedule of values approved in 1996 that was fully implemented in 1998 under
Tax Ordinance 2000-01,” Medina said. The schedule, he said “ was derived form
data gathered from advertisement, mortgage and value sales transition from the
monthly report of the Register of Deeds”.

The
LCF recommendation came as an addendum to its endorsement of the applications
of two establishments here to register as information technology centers under
the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

The
committee said it is “interposing no objection” to the application of Abanao
Square and Neutrinos IT Center for accreditation with the Philippine Economic
Zone Authority that would allow them to operate as information technology
centers.

City
councilor Peter Fianza, however, expressed reservations on the conversion of
Abanao Square, which is operating as a mall, into an ITC, saying the PEZA
should first conduct a study based on the criteria for ICTs.

“Are
we ready to absorb development in the area?,” he asked, referring to the
increased in traffic volume in the area and other needs of the ITC employees
such as housing.

To
clarify these points, the city council agreed to invite in its meeting the LFC,
the city building official and representatives of the PEZA and the Department
of Labor and Employment.

Only
recently, the city council realigned P26.2 million originally earmarked for
city projects for the payment of truck rentals in the hauling of the city’s
garbage and tipping fees for its dumping into a landfill in Capas, Tarlac.

SAGADA,
Mountain Province – The signal relay tower of Smart Telecommunication here atop
Mt. Pakad has resumed operations after it was shut down Sept. 8-11 due to
failure of the giant company to pay rent.

Bernard
Batnag, representative of lot owners where the tower was located said Smart
didn’t pay rent despite repeated reminders considering that he and Smart
representatives entered into agreement last July 18.

The
July 18 talks also agreed on increase of P40, 000 yearly rents to P50, 000
monthly rent for Barangay Balugan considering a lot occupied by Smart was part
of the barangay people’s communal property.

Batnag
also said Smart did not honor their July 18 agreement that he represent the
clan-family lot owners in dealing with the company as further attested by a
special power of attorney naming him as the administrator on said lot.

In
the unsigned memorandum of agreement drafted by Smart however, Smart placed
Bernard’s mother and widow Carmen Batnag to represent heirs of lot owner,
GabinoBatnag.

Also,
Bernard Batnag said Smart, did not include in the unsigned MOA
rights of lot owner prior consent before any additional
antenna or equipment be installed and additional 10% charge on the
monthly rate for said installation.

Smart
specially included in the MOA the company’s right to install any additional
antenna and/or equipment within the lease period.

The
new MOA effective June 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013 and renewable till
May 2018 was a new agreement following an earlier agreement between
GabinoBatnag and Smart on June 1, 1997 to May 31, 2012 for
Smart’s lease of a 500 square meter property.

Earlier
talks June this year between lot owner/s and Smart representatives followed
after a signal shutdown June 21.

This,
after Smart did not talk with any of the lot –owner representatives after the
15-year lease contract lapsed May 31 this year despite repeated attempts by
Batnag to reach Smart.

Meantime,
the four-day shutdown which paralyzed communications resulting to failed
email messages and internet-based
business led people here to change subscriber identity module (Sim) cards
to Globe and TM.

Some
persons here said Smart better transfer their tower to another site to prevent
signal disruption.

CURRIMAO. Ilocos Norte - A barangay chairman was in the wrong place and in the
wrong time, when he was shot while his kin were hurt in a shooting that
supposedly targeted an alleged illegal drugs tipster here Wednesday afternoon.

Ilocos
Norte police director Senior Supt. Marlou Chan said chairman Melchor Pacnis of
Barangay Victoria, Currimao together with his family were enroute to nearby
Paoay town aboard a tricycle along the national highway when a gunman paid to
“eliminate” drug operation tipster Edgar Quinto, who was enroute to Currimao,
began firing a pistol and whose bullets also hit the village chairman.

The
tricycle where the village chief and his family rode was turned upside down,
injuring members of his family, while the real target — Quinto,39, and his son
Jared — were able to flee.

Quinto
also suffered a gunshot wound and took refuge at the Currimao town police
headquarters.

The
victims were all rushed to a hospital in Batac City while policemen launched
pursuit operations.

Police
said the latest shooting incident could not be political as the real target was
not the village chairman.

Amid
the continuing spate of shootings and killings in Ilocos Norte, Sr. Supt. Chan
said the work of the Task Force running after guns-for-hire is succeeding with
the arrest of the province’s number 14 “target”—Robert Baoit.

Last
week, Baoit who was tagged in numerous “hits” was cornered in his lair,
bringing to at least a dozen the paid hitmen in the province nabbed by cops.

Salunat, 64, a former IBP
Northern Luzon governor and provincial campaign manager of the Liberal Party in
the 2010 elections, was shot dead in front of the municipal trial court in
Solano town here on June 22, 2010.

“Judge Rosales is seen as an
honest, prudent, just and peace-loving person,” and “implicating…(him) in
(Salunat’s killing) is seen as nothing but a mere ploy to divert the attention
of the intelligence and law enforcement community away from the real
perpetrators of the crime,” according to the manifesto.

The IBP members also offered to
help Rosales in his legal defense even as they assured him of their “continuing
quest for justice” for Salunat and his family.

Saculles said the marijuana
plants were planted in a one-hectare plantation. The PNP was not able to arrest the cultivator
of said plants.

Earlier, police forces uprooted
and destroyed about 6,600 full-grown
marijuana plants and 400 seedling in Sitio
Batu, Barangay Tulludan in Tinoc last month with the DDB estimated value of
P1,336,000.

Saculles said the success of the
anti-illegal drugs operation was conducted with help from residents and
barangay officials of Tinoc.

The provincial police director
also disclosed that also on Sept.
3, the 11th top most wanted person of
Lagawe town was captured by joint forces from the municipal and provincial
police offices led by Police Senior Inspectors Kenneth Pugong and
AngelitoPallaya.

Samuel Cabbigat, 42, was arrested
in his residence at Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya by virtue of warrant of arrest issued
by Judge Jose GodofredoNaui of Regional Trial Court Branch 14 in 2005 for the
crime of homicide.

He was committed to the Bureau of
Jail Management and Penology at Tiger Hill in Kiangan, Ifugao the following
day.

BAGUIO CITY -- Both are supposed
to be in the “prime of life”, explained by language experts as “the time of
maturity when power and vigor are at their greatest.”

Marilou Matias, a housewife from
Villasis, Pangasinan, is 24 with a five-year old daughter.
Dinton Canuto Basta, a laborer from La Trinidad, Benguet, is 25, single and
supposed to be a laborer.

Since May last year, however,
Marilou could hardly do housekeeping. That was after he was rushed to the
hospital due to severe abdominal pain and vomiting. Dinton, fifth of six
children of a laborer, was sidelined from washing carrots at the La Trinidad
Trading Post after he suffered a mild stroke and nosebleed last November.

Both were diagnosed for total
kidney failure. Both were advised to undergo at least twice a week hemodialysis
treatment for life. At P2,200 to P2,600 per session, excluding other
maintenance medicines, blood transfusions and other medical requirements to
survive, it’s hazardous to the wallet.

Still, it’s a more practical
option compared to kidney transplant, which can run to P1.5 million from tissue
matching to recovery, the amount to include expensive anti-rejection medicines
for at least a year

Yet hemodialysis is far beyond
the means, not only for Dinton and Marilou, but to hundreds of similarly
situated patients from all over who have flocked to Baguio and La Trinidad to
be near those equally expensive machines that work as their kidneys.

Simplicio, Marilou’s 34-year
old common-law husband who works as a security guard, just can’t figure
out how ends could meet. Distraught over how to sustain his wife’s treatment,
he got her social case study report from the municipal social welfare office,
the clinical abstract and her written permission allowing the publication
of a news item on her plight.

So did Dinton’s 56-year mother,
Benita, a farm laborer from Kapangan, Benguet. Last week, she followed up on
her son’s request for publication of his medical condition, “with the hope that
readers/listeners would know of my case and be able to respond and extend their
support to help sustain my dialysis sessions”.

Marilou is on the Monday and
Thursday schedule at the crowded Renal Center of the Baguio General Hospital
and Medical Center, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Simplicio said it was easier for her
to be brought up her by bus for her treatment than to have her session in
Dagupan.

The couple’s struggle to maintain
her treatment sessions is for their five-year old daughter Sharmane.

Dinton has four sisters and a
brother also trying to make ends meet. Gereldin, the eldest at 35, and Dionido,
33, are marginal farmers. Rebecca, 30, is a store helper, while Sharon, 31, is
a house help. Rythlyn, 23, is a farm laborer like their father Elemterio.

Elemterio, a native of Kabayan,
Benguet, met Benita in Quirino Province where both worked as farm laborers.
After marriage, the couple established their residence on a lot given them by a
relative. Their six kids did not pursue college studies due to limited
financial resources, wrote social worker Maria Lourdes Taguiba of the La
Trinidad social welfare office.

Dinton, the last child, ventured
into La Trinidad in 2007, and found work as a carrot washer. Last November, he
suffered a mild stroke. Medical examination confirmed he was also suffering
from end-stage renal failure.

“He is at present undergoing
twice-a-week hemodialysis which the family could no longer afford to support,”
said Taguiba.

Dinton, who is supposed to be on
the Monday and Thursday dialysis schedule (11 a.m.- 3p.m. shift) at the BGHMC
might not be able to make it this Monday as his family has ran out of people to
run to for help. He can be reached through his mother’s cellphone
number (09465507988). Samaritans can also contact Marilou at cellphone
number 09268469200.

Grim is the struggle of many
dialysis patients, yet their faces lighten up each time someone like Engr.
Leonard Licanio comes along and reaches out to them. Recently, he handed over
P2,000 each to dialysis patients Linbeth Lestino and Madeline Ranille.

TUBO, Abra - A three-dimensional
map will settle boundary disputes going on for decades among tribes in upland
Abra.

The Maeng tribe of Tubo and the
Balatoc, Belwang and Masadiit tribes of Boliney in Abra can come to terms with
mediation underway with the use of the 3D map after the tribes agreed on May
2011 to jointly construct it as a visual guide in facilitating discussions
among them.

The 3D map will be used as a tool
to steer tribal mediation process in Abra, National Commission on Indigenous
Peoples (NCIP) Chairperson ZenaidaPawid said.

The 3D map was launched on Sept.
12, at the NCIP Provincial Office in Bangued, Abra.

Present during the launch were
elders and Bodong (peace pact) holders or those who are keepers of the history
and indigenous knowledge of the tribes.

With strong affinity to their
land and natural resources, the indigenous peoples consider rivers, forests,
mountains, ritual sites and sacred burial grounds as part of their traditional
boundaries and territories.

The 3D map, the NCIP said,
strengthens traditional conflict mechanisms where the negotiation is left in
the hands of the elders and will maintain the Bodong as integral component of
the final settlement.

Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat, Jr.
Chair of the House Committee on Cultural Communities who has led mediation
meetings in upland Abra hopes that the tribal communities will finally reach an
accord towards respect for traditions, rights, boundaries and resource
use.

Also instrumental in making the
negotiation process possible are the Office of the Presidential Adviser for on
the Peace Process (OPAPP), NCIP, Philippine Association for Intercultural
Development (PAFID) and the Foundation from the Philippine Environment
(FPE).

BAGUIO CITY -- His peers at
the city legislature agree his intentions are good, yet feel city councilor
Edison Bilog’s proposal to require all market vendors, including sidewalk
peddlers, to wear color-coded aprons while selling might do more harm than
good.

The proposed ordinance was up for
second reading but the city council Monday deferred passage and have the
measure subjected to a public hearing.

“Will it not legitimize street
vendors?,” asked councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda, expressing the fears of other
members that peddlers would misconstrue the apron as some badge validating
their occupation of sidewalks and other pedestrian walkways.

“How can this ordinance put order
to a chaotic market?,” asked councilor Isabelo Cosalan Jr. while councilor
Elmer Datuin said the staff of the city market supervisor would be overburdened
by adding to their work the enforcement of the apron-wearing requirement.

The council’s committee on
market, trade and commerce headed by councilor Perlita Rondez earlier
recommended approval on second reading of the proposed ordinance and that of a
similar measure filed by vice-mayor Daniel Farinas.

Fianza, a member of the
committee, however, asked, “but will this not legalize use of sidewalks for
vending?”

Bilog explained his proposal was
intended to help tidy up the market, and also for health and tourism purposes,
not to legitimize sidewalk vending.

“Public and private market and talipapa vendors can contribute and play a
vital part in exercising a healthy Baguio City if they themselves are neat,
tidy and careful while plying and selling their trades, products and services,”
Bilog said in his proposal.

“With a color-coded apron system
that is both useful and pleasing to the sight of market-goers it may somehow
put order to the otherwise chaotic sight that is observed in the public as well
as private Baguio markets,” the measure added.

He recommended red apron
for meat, fish, lechon, chicken and poultry vendors; green for those selling
fruits, vegetables and groceries; white for eatery and dry goods vendors; and
electric blue for all sidewalk vendors.

He pegged the fines for
violations are P300 for the first offense, P500 for the second and P700 per
violation for the third.

DASOL, Pangasinan- An officer of
the Phil. Navy was shot dead Sept. 14 by three armed men who ambushed him while
the Navy’s companion was unhurt in National highway, barangay Botobot, this
town.

Police report said that P02
Victor Balanon, detailed with the Phil .Navy Headquarters in San Antonio,
Zambales, died on the spot after he was gunned down by three unidentified men
in the said highway.

Investigation showed that the victim,
together with his companion SM2nd Glaiza Ballesteros, also a member of the
Navy, was driving his Toyota Fortuner with plate number TQN 628 when suddenly
three armed men blocked their path in Botobot.

The three men were reportedly carrying
long bamboos when they blocked the victim’s van.

Once stopped, the suspects shot
the victim and killed him on the spot. Ballesteros, however, was not hurt after
she was left behind by the suspects.

The suspects suddenly escaped
when another vehicle was coming to the ambush site.

Police said they are now hunting
the suspects who fled towards the town of Burgos.